It took 12 years, but Paramount Pictures boss Brad Grey finally got his man.
Hollywood’s hottest actor Leo DiCaprio announced last week that his production company, Appian Way, was breaking up with Warner Bros. after more than a decade and moving over to Paramount.
While the news was the talk of Hollywood, few knew that Grey has been working behind the scenes for years to woo the Oscar-winning actor and well-known playboy.
The two men first worked together on Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed,” which put DiCaprio on the map in 2004. They have since partnered on other movies to include Scorsese’s “Shutter Island” and “The Wolf of Wall Street.”
Despite obvious chemistry and on-again, off-again talks, Grey didn’t seal the deal until after DiCaprio nabbed his first Best Actor Oscar in late February for his performance in “The Revenant.”
“They started talking again after Leo won the Oscar, but he also came to Brad’s birthday party at Sunset Towers on the Golden Globes weekend,” said a source close to the two parties, explaining how Grey worked to nail the deal. “This is a great coup for Paramount.”
The news is a big shot in the arm to the Viacom-owned studio, which Grey has run for more than a decade. DiCaprio’s deal will give Paramount a three-year, first-look deal at his projects.
Those include four already under way:
Those include four already under way:
- “The Devil in the White City,” an adaptation of the non-fiction book by Erik Larson about the dramatic events surrounding the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.
- “Sandcastle Empire,” a book about the world on the brink due to climate change.
- An untitled movie about the Volkswagen emissions scandal.
- A TV series based on a biography of famed aviator Charles Lindbergh.
Paramount, which is heading into the critical summer movie season, has had its fair share of ups and downs.
After taking the No. 1 spot in 2011, Parmount’s share of the domestic box office has trailed that of the other big studios, including Warner Bros., Sony, Universal, 21st Century Fox and Disney.
For 2015, Paramount ranked sixth, with just 5.9 percent of the market.
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